


Don't Go Breaking my Rules

by CastielFollowMe



Series: Single Dad Shiro Verse [89]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Accidents, Disobeying parents, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Rule Breaking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-19
Updated: 2017-10-19
Packaged: 2019-01-19 09:25:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12407631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CastielFollowMe/pseuds/CastielFollowMe
Summary: Shiro is reluctant to let Keith have a motorcycle and for obvious reasons. His biggest concern is if Keith will obey his rules or break them for his own game.





	Don't Go Breaking my Rules

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: "Hello! I know you've been busy, but would you consider writing shiro forbidding teenager Keith (14, 15, 16 maybe?) from doing something dangerous (like a skateboarding or motorcycle race) but Keith sneaking out and doing it anyway and ending up hurting himself seriously ,and shiro getting really angry (and worried) at him and the two of them get in a fight that lasts for a couple of days, even with Keith being physically hurt? Thank you!"

 

              “I’m not going to tell you again. You are  _not_  getting a motorcycle.” Shiro nearly growled. He was getting frustrated at this point, considering this was the umpteenth time that he had stated this to Keith. Keith was sixteen and had finally gotten his license after Shiro had survived the ordeal of teaching Keith how to drive.

              However, for the past month, Keith had been insistent that he wanted a motorcycle. Shiro had allowed Keith to get his motorcycle license and Keith had gotten it easy. That was as far as Shiro had gotten. He had refused to buy Keith a motorcycle, knowing how much responsibility they were and how  _dangerous_  they were. Shiro was no strangers to motorcycles and he and Kuro had often ridden them when they were teenagers. He didn’t want to shield Keith from them for the rest of his life, but while he was still a minor Shiro was refusing to buy one for Keith.

              Once Keith was 18 and on his own,  _then_  he could buy a motorcycle for himself. Only then. Shiro was not about to buy one for his son. _Oh my god, if my mom heard me now she would chew me out for having one as a teen._

              “How is that even fair?  _You_  don’t even have to buy it?” Keith took a deep breath to keep himself from yelling. Despite the tense argument, both of them had been good about not yelling or storming out on one another. They’d both learned their lesson about doing that.

              “Oh, and I suppose Grandma or Grandpa is gonna buy it for you?” Shiro sighed heavily. He leaned against the counter with his arms folded over his chest. Keith had his hands clenched into fists at his side, but at least he was still facing Shiro and merely frowning rather than scowling.

              “No,” Keith said through clenched teeth before taking another deep breath. “It’s  _my_  money.”

              Now Shiro was caught off guard. One eyebrow rose. “Your money?”

              “Yes. That summer job I did, at the café?” Keith said quietly.

              “You mean that hell job?” Shiro almost shuddered to remember how miserable Keith had been at that job.

              “Yeah. Well, I saved up about 20% of my paycheck every week into this when I started getting my license. I have more than enough for a bike now. And it would be my money; not yours or the Grandparents. Mine.” Keith explained softly. Shiro frowned and rubbed his chin in thought. At that moment he was conflicted about what to do next.

              On one hand, it  _wasn’t_  Shiro’s money being spent on a bike and that had been the base of Shiro’s whole argument. This was just showing Shiro that Keith was responsible. On the other hand, Shiro was still the parent and in the end, his say was final. He could just say no and leave it at that.

              “But, weren’t you saving that for a trip or college?” Shiro tried one last time, but even he could hear how weak his argument sounded. Thankfully, Keith didn’t even roll his eyes but simply shook his head.

              “No, this is what I want to spend it on and I’m not going to use all of my money,” Keith said, almost pleading at this point. It made Shiro’s throat tightened and his arguments were growing weaker and weaker. _You could just say no._

              “Please, dad.” Keith was pleading now.

              Abort. Abort. His son was  _pleading._  His stone cold and adorable son was  _pleading_  with Shiro for a motorcycle. Shiro could begin to feel the cracks in his strong demeanor. Shiro swallowed thickly, squared his shoulders and even puffed out his chest a bit. Just a bit. _You can just say no._

              “…Okay…”

              When Keith grinned happily and gave Shiro a quick hug, Shiro felt himself deflate. He knew that he could have just told Keith no, as a last resort because he was the parent. But then, what kind of a father would Shiro be if he simply did that?

x.V.x

              “Absolutely no riding at night. None, whatsoever. I don’t care if you bought it, but if I see you riding it after dark, I will put it in  _my_  garage until you’re moved out.” Shiro warned tightly while observing Keith sitting on his new bike. “That means you better make sure your home before dark because I don’t care if you’re on your way home.”

              Keith nodded, without saying anything. He was still too into his happiness to let anything spoil the mood. Even his dad’s rules. He had a bike. _He had a bike!_  All that hard work at Café Hell had been worth it once Keith had got to drive his new bike home. Even Shiro looked awed upon seeing the bike, despite being by Keith’s side during the whole purchase.

              It was a nice bike.

              Even Red was enjoying the bike. She was wagging her tail and barking at Keith and the bike, every time that Keith revved the engine or turned the bike on. She would run back and forth around the yard, as Keith drove up and down the block. He was getting used to the bike but Shiro could see that Keith was a natural.

              “Okay, got it. Can I show Pidge and the others now?” Keith was practically vibrating with excitement, leaving Shiro to huff.

              “Fine. But remember to be careful!” Shiro yelled when Keith nodded before flipping the visor to his helmet down. He turned the engine on, making a loud noise and causing Red to start barking madly. “And don’t forget my rules!” Keith waved a hand before he was off speeding down the road, leaving Shiro and Red behind. Red whined before plopping herself on Shiro’s feet and Shiro sighed.

              “He’s a good kid. He’ll obey my rules, right girl?” Shiro asked, scratching behind Red’s ears. She barked in response and Shiro sighed a deep and heavy sigh. _Keith’s a good kid._

x.V.x

              Shiro had been through this before.

              Yet, it was just as frightening this time as any other time it had. When Shiro had gotten that call at eleven at night, on the  _one night_  he had gone out with friends, Shiro could feel the fear racing through his heart yet again. When the hospital called to inform him that Keith had been admitted, Shiro had panicked for a blind second. He pulled away from his group of friends for some more privacy only for the nurse to reassure that Keith was  _fine._

              Suffering from a broken arm, but otherwise fine. He was alive and conscious and that was all that mattered. Only then could Shiro breathe a sigh of relief. He calmly told the nurse that he would be at the hospital in no more than ten minutes. Just as he was about to hang out, the nurse had asked Shiro if Keith had owned a motorcycle.

              “Yes he does,” Shiro said, with a feeling a dread in his heart.

              “Oh, well it appears it was an accident on his bike, which landed on his arm when he crashed.”

              Shiro felt his expression morph into a blank look and he grit his teeth together. Which was the exact expression that he was wearing when he finally made it into Keith’s hospital room. After checking to make sure that Keith really was okay and observing for any other injuries. Keith at least had the decency to look guilty when his dad’s eyes raked all over him. He tried to hide the cast from Shiro’s line of sight and curled in on himself.

              “Are you okay?” Shiro finally broke the silence and asked. Keith jumped, startled that his dad wasn’t yelling at him. _Yet._

              “Um, ah, yeah. Just a broken arm.” Keith weakly waved his cast and Shiro huffed. Taking a deep breath, Shiro nodded once more before pressing his fingers to his temples.

              “Yeah _, just_  a broken arm. Thank god it wasn’t anything else.” Shiro said icily and Keith sunk back deeper into his bed. “I wonder exactly how your arm got broken though? Did you fall off the porch again?”

              “No,” Keith mumbled quiet and Shiro clenched his jaw.

              “No?” He asked and Keith fiddled with a loose thread on his cast.

              “Iwasridingmybike.” Keith managed to mumble. Shiro took yet another deep breath and crossed his arms over his chest. It was strange to see the usually smiling man so stoic, and it was the reason why so many people had forgotten that Shiro was the captain of a special ops unit. He could be cold if he wanted to. Like when Keith didn’t follow his rules.

              “I’m sorry, could you speak up? I’m afraid I didn’t hear you.” Shiro asked, causing Keith to swallow thickly.

              “I said, I – I was riding my bike. I – It fell on me. That’s how I got hurt.” Keith admitted finally and Shiro sighed heavily.

              “Your bike? You mean to tell me that you were riding your bike  _after_  it was dark and when I wasn’t home?” Shiro asked slowly. Keith flinched again and nodded. “So you mean to tell me that you  _directly_  disobeyed my rules and did something stupid like this, behind my back?”

              At this Keith frowned. “It was an accident okay. At least I’m  _fine.”_

              “Yeah,  _this time_  Keith,” Shiro growled lowly. “Next time you might get hurt even worse? When will you decide that my rules were so meaningless and your common sense had flown out the window?” Keith’s eyes narrowed and his face became red with anger.

              “This could have easily have happened during the day too. It was an  _accident.”_  Keith said tightly and Shiro felt anger growing inside of him. He was furious that Keith had gotten hurt and over the fact that Keith wasn’t understanding what he was trying to say. “Don’t act all high and mighty. I  _know_  you and Uncle Kuro did much, much worse than me at my age, on a bike!”

              “That has nothing to do with this!” Shiro snapped.

              “Yes it does, because apparently, you think I can’t handle riding my bike even though _I bought_ it with my own money. You seem to think I’m this irresponsible punk when you were worse than I was as a kid!” Keith hissed, causing Shiro to clench his hands into fists.          

              “Because you  _are_  being irresponsible!” Shiro practically shouted. Keith didn’t flinch this time and merely glared at his father.

              “Why can’t you just be grateful that I’m okay?! Seriously, you’re making this way worse than it needs to be.” Keith grumbled.

              “Because you could have  _died!”_  Shiro finally exploded, causing Keith to jump. The hospital room was then filled with silence, except for Shiro’s heavy breathing. “This could have been much worse than it was Keith, and you don’t seem to understand this. I try to always be on your side, and I let you get this bike because I thought you were responsible as my son. But I guess I was wrong.” Shiro stared down his son for a few seconds longer before turning out the door and looking for a doctor. This left Keith alone in the hospital once more, shocked to the core by his father’s words.

_I guess I was wrong._

              Keith didn’t understand why, but those words hurt worse than anything Shiro had ever said to him.

x.V.x

              It had been almost three weeks since Keith’s accident and he and Shiro were still on thin ice. They talked and moved on with their lives, but Keith knew that he had broken all of his trust with his dad. His dad was still slightly cold when talking to Keith or mentioning his bike. It hurt Keith’s heart every time that his dad didn’t smile at him.

              Keith’s bike was pretty much wrecked.

              Initially, before arguing with his dad, Keith had hoped he could repair the bike with his dad’s help but just a day after their fight, Keith had dropped the bike off at the junkyard. All those memories and all of the money he had saved had gone right down the drain but Keith could care less.

               _I guess I was wrong._

              One day, during dinner Shiro had brought up the bike.

              “Hey, I didn’t see the bike in the garage. Are you getting repairs on it?” Shiro asked softly. Admittedly, he knew he hadn’t handled the situation well. It was still tough to talk about the bike after Keith’s accident and Shiro knew it was wrong to act so cold to his boy. But it had been so frustrating that Keith couldn’t understand where he was coming from. Shiro knew Keith wouldn’t be able to ride his bike until after the cast came off, but before the accident, Keith was vigilant in keeping the bike cleaned and well maintained.

              Keith simply shrugged. “Dunno probably smashed up in some junkyard,” Keith admitted quietly, eyes trained down on his plate. Shiro froze, in mid-chew at Keith’s words and blinked owlishly.

              “What?”

              “I dunno where it is? I tossed it at the junkyard last week.” Keith continued in a tiny voice. It was a voice that made Shiro’s heart squeeze with displeasure.

              “Keith, why would you do that?” Shiro asked when Keith snorted.

              “I would have thought you’d be happy to see it gone.”

              “Keith.”

              “Sorry. You were right,” Keith admitted, toying with the food on his plate. He kept his eyes trained down when Shiro tried to look him in the eyes. Shiro felt his heart skip a beat. “I was being stupid and foolish and I didn’t deserve that bike. I’ll just stick to the bus.”

              “Keith, no. You shouldn’t have gotten rid of the bike.” Shiro began only to be cut off by Keith pushing his chair back.

              “No. You were right. I wasn’t meant to have that bike and I couldn’t handle it.” Keith said before excusing himself to head to bed. Shiro stared at Keith’s empty chair with a frown before sighing heavily. He thought he would have been happy to see the bike gone, but seeing it gone and Keith’s solemn mood over the past few weeks had turned any happiness Shiro would have felt into sadness.

               _Plus, it was a pretty cool bike._

 _And Keith was extremely responsible with it, other than that night. He always cleaned it up. He changed the oil. He fixed the engine if it ever broke_.

              Shiro felt his guilt overwhelm him before he knew what had to be done. There wasn’t any other way to go about this situation.

              With that, Keith found himself outside of the garage the next morning, curious as to what his father was planning. However, what he wasn’t expecting was to see  _his_  bike sitting in the garage without a scratch on it. His jaw dropped and admittedly a few tears gathered up in his eyes before he turned to see his father standing behind the bike.

              “Dad…” Keith was at a loss for words right then and there.

              “I’m sorry,” Shiro admitted. “I was so mad about you getting hurt because you broke my rules, and I’m still mad about that. Don’t think I won’t get mad when you break my rules, but some of my words were uncalled for. You’re one of the most responsible person to own a motorcycle. A hell of a lot more responsible than your uncle or I ever was.” Shiro smiled softly and grunted when Keith launched himself at his father. Quickly, Shiro wrapped both of his arms around Keith in a tight hug while Keith sniffled.

              “Dad, I’m sorry,” Keith mumbled into Shiro’s jacket. “I promise to always obey your rules. I know you’re just looking for my best interest and not being a jerk. I’m sorry I was a jerk.”

              “It’s okay Keith. I think you’ve learned your lesson.” Shiro said before he patted down some hair on Keith’s forehead. Keith smiled brightly up at his father, wiping his eyes once more before pulling away. He nodded as Shiro ran a finger across the bike. “Besides, it’d be a shame if this bike never got a ride while your arm heals,” Shiro said slyly and Keith playfully rolled his eyes.

              “You wanna go for a ride?” Keith asked.

              “Well, if you insist.” Shiro grinned and in less than a second he had his own helmet on and he was kicking the engine to life. Keith watched on with a smile as his father drove down the driveway before speeding off down the street. He laughed and stood at the edge of their property to watch his father racing away as Red plopped herself beside him. All the while, Shiro was grinning to himself as the wind whipped past him and the sights all around him became a blur.

               _Keith would always be a good kid._


End file.
